Page 21 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

Do you have a hot MMA story or news item that you have found and would like to share?
Then read our guidelines then post it to our MMA News Share Forum to have it display here for the community to read on this page.

Lorenz Larkin and Fernando Gonzalez will square off in a 180-pound catchweight affair in the Bellator 193 headliner on Jan. 26.
Promotion officials announced the pairing on Tuesday. Bellator 193 takes place at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., and will be televised on the Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. Additional bouts for the event will be announced soon.

Now that one of the biggest – if not the biggest – wins of Dustin Poirier’s career is in the books, you can own all the gear that went along with it.
MMAjunkie recently reported on Poirier’s decision to auction off his fight kit from UFC Fight Night 120, as well as his plans to auction off his gear after all his future fights to raise money for important causes close to him. He first auctioned off his gear following UFC 211 in May and raised $5,100 for the Second Harvest Food Bank in his home city of Lafayette, La., which translated to 3,000 meals for needy families.
This past Saturday, Poirier (22-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) took out former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis (20-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC) with a third-round TKO in a “Fight of the Night” winner at UFC Fight Night 120, which took place at Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va.
And now, Poirier has his fight kit on to raise money for the family of Lafayette Police Cpl. Michael Middlebrook, who was killed in the line of duty in October.

Michael Bisping surprised the MMA universe by stepping in on short notice to face Kelvin Gastelum following Anderson Silva’s forced withdrawal from UFC Fight Night 122 in Shanghai due to a USADA violation.
Bisping lost his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 217 to Georges St-Pierre via third-round submission a week before he agreed to the short notice bout.
Although “The Count” openly talked about considering retirement in the lead-up to the Madison Square Garden showdown with GSP, he says he has no plan to retire following his bout with Gastelum at the end of the month.
According to the former middleweight champion, he wants to retire in front of his home support in England at UFC London on Mar. 17.

Conor McGregor has broken has silence on Friday’s controversial incident in Dublin, Ireland.
McGregor jumped into the cage at Bellator 187 to celebrate SBG teammate Charlie Ward’s TKO victory over John Redmond. McGregor, who was not a licensed cornerman for the bout, then got into an altercation with referee Marc Goddard, and slapped a Bellator employee after McGregor was removed from the cage, before he left the scene.
In the aftermath, there have been calls for the UFC lightweight champion to be disciplined. Mohegan Sun Department of Athletic Regulation director Mike Mazzulli, who oversaw the Bellator card, said the UFC pulled McGregor off UFC 219 due to the incident, a claim McGregor’s agent, Audie Attar, denied.
On Tuesday, McGregor gave his side of the story on Instagram.

Just when you thought there was no one left to call out Conor McGregor, another famous name has thrown their hat in the proverbial ring.
Speaking on DashRadio, former boxing champion-turned-promoter Oscar De La Hoya revealed that not only has he been getting back into fighting shape, he’s doing so with the idea that even at the age of 44 he can still take out “The Notorious”.

Juliana Lima (9-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) is set to take on Randa Markos (7-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at UFC on FOX 27 in January. Promotion officials announced the new booking today after an initial report from MMADNA.nl.
UFC on FOX 27 takes place Jan. 27 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte. The main card will air on FOX after prelims expected for either FOX or FS1 and UFC Fight Pass. No headliner has been announced for the event yet, which will be the UFC’s first show in North Carolina in nearly eight years.

It’s a little later than he initially asked for, but Ovince Saint Preux will get his wish – which initially was a wish made by Ilir Latifi.
Saint Preux (22-10 MMA, 10-5 UFC) and Latifi (13-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) are set to clash in a light heavyweight bout when the UFC returns to North Carolina in January for UFC on FOX 27. Promotion officials announced the new booking today following an initial report from the Charlotte Observer.
UFC on FOX 27 takes place Jan. 27 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte. The main card will air on FOX after prelims expected for either FOX or FS1 and UFC Fight Pass. No headliner has been announced for the event yet, which will be the UFC’s first show in North Carolina in nearly eight years.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was expected to put Conor McGregor in the pay-per-view (PPV) main event of UFC 219 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he would attempt to unify the division titles against interim straphanger Tony Ferguson on Dec. 30, 2017.
Instead, officials have reportedly sent him to the sidelines.

One of the sport’s brightest prospects has taken the next step in her MMA career.
Decorated jiu-jitsu champion Mackenzie Dern announced Monday on The MMA Hour that she has signed a multi-fight deal with all-female promotion Invicta FC.
Dern said Monday that her Invicta FC debut will be on Dec. 8 in a strawweight bout against one-time title challenger Kaline Medeiros.

Bellator is getting some much-needed swagger.
Jack Swagger, that is.
The MMA promotion has signed former WWE star Jake Hager, better known by his ring name Jack Swagger, to compete in its heavyweight division, Hager announced Monday on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. Swagger said he’ll be making his debut in 2018.

Dustin Poirier was more than happy to headline UFC Fight Night in Norfolk, Virginia against former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, but he knows deep down he should have been facing a different opponent.
Earlier this year, Poirier faced another former champ in Eddie Alvarez in an epic battle that unfortunately ended in a no contest.

Jimmie Rivera said he’s the obvious next candidate to challenge UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. There’s a roadblock in his way, however, and his name is UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson.

Bellator has lost the headline bout of this week’s event in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Featherweight champion Patricio Freire was forced out of Bellator 188 clash with Daniel Weichel due to a knee injury, sources confirmed to MMAFighting following a report by Ram Gilboa.

UFC Fight Night 121: Werdum vs. Tybura takes place at the Qudos Bank Arena next Sunday November 19. The six-fight main card airs live on FS 6, Edge and Fight Pass, following the preliminary cards on UFC Fight Pass.
Earlier this week the fight card suffered two pull outs. Nevertheless the replacements for both bouts have been found, with today’s announcement made by Australian Alex Volkanovski who is facing a new opponent.

Mirko Cro Cop is coming out of retirement. Again.
The veteran MMA fighter and kickboxer, who’s previously announced multiple retirements of sorts that never quite stuck, is returning to action again.
Risen FF officials today announced Cro Cop (35-11-2) will fight fellow heavyweight Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (29-12-2) on Dec. 31. The event, “Rizin FF 9: World Grand Prix Final Round,” takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and it steams on FITE TV in North America.

Following his thrilling win over Anthony Pettis at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 120 event, Dustin Poirier shifted his gaze to UFC matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, demanding they award him a $50,000 bonus.
They listened.
Poirier and Pettis were each awarded “Fight of the Night” honors for Saturday’s event, which took place at Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va. Their contest served as the main event of the FS1-broadcast main card following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass, and Poirier took home a third-round TKO.
The headliners weren’t the only fighters to take home an extra check, with both Matt Brown and Rapahel Assuncao also earning an additional $50,000 in the form of “Performance of the Night” awards.

Mirko Cro Cop is coming out of retirement. Again.
The veteran MMA fighter and kickboxer, who’s previously announced multiple retirements of sorts that never quite stuck, is returning to action again.
Risen FF officials today announced Cro Cop (35-11-2) will fight fellow heavyweight Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (29-12-2) on Dec. 31. The event, “Rizin FF 9: World Grand Prix Final Round,” takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and it steams on FITE TV in North America.

Michael Bisping is getting right back on the horse.
A week after losing the middleweight title to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217, Bisping has agreed to fight Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC Shanghai in two weeks, MMA Fighting has learned.
Bisping replaces Anderson Silva, who was provisionally suspended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency on Friday and subsequently removed from the card. Silva failed an out-of-competition drug test administered by USADA on Oct. 26, however, it’s unknown at this time which substance he tested positive for.